Even as the government make efforts to prohibit child labour, an Uttar Pradesh government-owned urban development agency itself has come under scanner for hiring minors for whitewashing and cleaning work at a housing project. Several children, aged below 14 years, were Tuesday seen sprucing up the Kanshi Ram Awas Yojna - a housing scheme for Economically Weaker Sections of the society - in Kalindikunj town. The renovation of the Kanshi Ram Awas...

Providing free and compulsory education for all children aged between six and 14 under the Right to Education (RTE) Act violated the unfettered rights of unaided schools in making admissions of their choice, senior counsel Vikas Singh argued in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Under the Act, every child in the said age group shall have the right to study in a neighbourhood school till completion of elementary education. A three-judge Bench...

To keep a check on the implementation of various Centrally-sponsored schemes, a meeting of the District Vigilance Monitoring Committee of the Congress was held under the chairmanship of local Congress MP Pradeep Majhi on Wednesday. District Collector Sibabrata Dash, PD, DRDA, Dhruba Charana Panchbhaya, Executive Engineers of RD, RWSS, SOUTHCO, AEs of PWD, MI and LI and other district officers, besides members of the committee,were present. Detailed discussions on the various Centrally-sponsored...

The Kendriya Vidyalayas have decided to merge their quota for SCs and STs within the 25 per cent reservation to be offered to children of disadvantaged groups under the Right To Education Act. But the move has sparked controversy with education activists saying it would leave very few seats for the disadvantaged sections. They have argued that the 25 per cent quota should be offered separately. Lawyer and social activist Ashok Agrawal...

Thousands of children and women die every year in India due to lack of access to basic healthcare. Why is it that, in the Mecca of medical tourism, the poor continue to be denied the right to health? A national television channel had a 30-minute special recently on how private hospitals are denying free medical treatment to poor patients. Under a quota, private hospitals are expected to provide medical treatment...